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Talla Unica
Talla Unica was a young butterfly girl living in Torlynn during the New Age. As an infant caterpillar, Talla was snatched away from the butterfly grotto by woodwolves. Butterfly princess Mariposa had searched for her but failed to locate the baby. Talla Unica's mother would later continue the search for her missing child on her own, but would disappear into the forest and never be heard from again. At some point during her youth, Talla Unica's wings and antennae were removed, and she remained unaware of her own butterfly heritage, at least consciously. From all outward appearances, she was a young human female, but she retained scars and bumps on her head and on her back. Talla Unica had white hair and white eyes, and wore an oversized tunic and a pair of shorts with a rope belt. A Butterfly's Tale Mariposa was reminded of the night she had failed to recover the missing child shortly after her people had inexplicably disappeared from the butterfly grotto; she experienced similar feelings of frustration and failure. The Quest for the World-Breaker By unctual year 3889, Talla Unica was self-sufficient, using her self-taught knowledge of plant lore to survive. Despite this, she was unable to fully care for herself, and had numerous bugs in her hair. When a storm hit, she retreated under a stone bridge by Kingsbridge, wrapped up in blankets to protect her from the elements. She happened to meet "Four" Wheeler, who had been exiled from Torlynn and was hiding from the weather under the same bridge. When prompted for her name, she answered "Talla Unica" because that was what was written on the label of her blanket; it was not until later that Four would learn it was not her true name. Talla Unica and Four became friends, and started traveling together. Four even gave her a haircut, but failed to notice her pointed ears. On a mountain pass en route to Darkholm, they found the unconscious body of the moth warrior Syxx, with whom Four had been previously acquainted. After reaching Darkholm, they stayed for several weeks at the Slip Right Inn, with Four alternating between working at the tavern and tending to Syxx, while Talla Unica came and went, collecting herbs and plants for the moth's recovery. When Erasmus the innkeeper expressed a particularly inappropriate desire for her, Talla Unica responded by brandishing Four's dagger, killing the man and fleeing Darkholm. She ran all the way to the Great Divide, and—perhaps traumatized by the incident, or perhaps having recalled memories of her earlier childhood, or perhaps both—armed with some inkling that she should be able to fly, prepared to jump into the depths of the chasm. She was rescued by a recovered Syxx, who glided with Talla until they reached the rope bridge that spanned the chasm and into the waiting arms of Brian Devonhyre, who was traveling with the butterfly princess, Mariposa. When the rope bridge was cut, Talla was separated from Four, depending now on Syxx as her companion of choice. Mariposa recognized Talla as a butterfly right away, accurately surmising that she was the missing caterpillar baby. Talla was unable to provide an explanation as to how or why she had lost her wings. Talla became part of Mariposa's search for the Flightless One, and provided Mariposa with information on where she might find the onion grass that was part of the Flightless One's legend. Talla traveled with the others into the depths of the ancient Tree and discovered the Flightless One still alive; Talla, with her characteristic lack of tact, was the first to point out that she was missing her arms and legs. Their quest then took them to seek out the wizard Tha'aron, who was purported to have knowledge about how to deal with the World-Breaker. While the grown-ups discussed business, Talla Unica enjoyed playing with Hissy-Fitt. After boarding the wizard's wagon and preparing to leave, Talla and the others were enveloped by a snowy avalanche. It was then that she admitted to killing the innkeeper. Talla suffered from hypothermia and fell into a comatose state. She was believed to be dead until she was successfully revived by a magical lightning bolt generated by Tha'aron's sorcery. Talla's body bore a mark where the lightning had struck her, a memento she would carry for the rest of her days. After traveling to Torlynn Castle, Brian attempted to have Talla arrested for the innkeeper's murder, until Four intervened and insisted that he had done it. Later, Talla Unica alerted a sleeping Tha'aron to the danger when the castle was attacked by goblins aboard the Xanthippe. When Tha'aron attempted to use a lightning bolt against the craft that would completely expend his life energy, Talla grabbed the wizard in protest, inadvertantly contributing some of her own life essence to the spell, thus saving Tha'aron's life and augmenting the power of the incantation. Following the destruction of the World-Breaker, Talla Unica returned with Mariposa to the new butterfly settlement that Mariposa had discovered. Talla, along with the survivors of Mariposa's colony, were welcomed into the fold, with promises from the butterfly king that Talla's special needs would be taken into consideration. Behind the Scenes The story of the missing caterpillar baby was told in A Butterfly's Tale, but the character wasn't properly fleshed out, or given a name, until The Quest for the World-Breaker. Talla Unica will appear in the third book, The Curse of the Fate Shifter. Category:Persons Category:Butterflies Category:Youths